Alexis Gudding responds to rat church by Zooey Kim Conner (2022)



a rat


i am a rat all the time
i love myself
i love that i am

i help other rats
before i help myself
and i love to help

i love warmth, and
another rat named rat
rat and i spend
time together

we eat and hide
and burrow and
run and look out

last night, after rat left
i dreamt
that i was in a maze
but i could not smell
usually i can smell

i can always smell
blood, and sometimes
it makes me kill
and other times i run

the next night i found
rat and their inside was outside
i know how
i cried and left

the next day i found
i was still a rat
i guess i am still a
rat all the time
maybe not



— Alexis Gudding

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